Where There's Smoke by Jodi Picoult

Where There's Smoke is a short story written by one of my all time favorite authors Jodi Picoult. Where There's Smoke is a prequel to Leaving Time, a full length novel by Picoult. Larger Than Life is another prequel to Leaving Time as well. Prior to reading Where There's Smoke I had completed both of the other two.

Where There's Smoke introduces Serenity Jones, a primary character in Leaving Time. Jones is a psychic medium who now stars on her own cable TV show where she contacts the deceased love ones. Jones is different because where many other psychics are merely reading body language clues or taking guesses she possesses a true psychic ability and has since she was only four years old.  

I love the way that Picoult develops her characters and her verbiage is excellent as always. If you are a Picoult fan you will not be disappointed with this one!

You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz

I just finished reading You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz. This novel tells the story of Grace Reinhart Sachs, a therapist and the author of a book in which she encourages women to trust their instincts and first impressions of the men in their lives. Grace believes that the signs of trouble in a marriage or relationship often reveal themselves early on. Grace leads a seemingly perfect life and has a wonderful marriage with a man she is madly in love with, but her life begins to unravel when a mother at her son's school is found brutally murdered. 

I have to say that I found You Should Have Known to be very predictable and anticlimactic. Despite the fact that Korelitz is a beautiful writer, the story lacked a certain amount of depth necessary to captivate the reader and as a result I often found myself bored. I truly didn't find the characters interesting and although the story line had potential, I didn't feel that it was well executed overall. 

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

I have to say that I was sadly disappointed with Requiem, the third installment in the Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver. Had I not been determined to finish the series, I would have put the book down long before the ending. I really enjoyed Delirium and it felt like the series just went downhill from there. 

I felt like Lena and Alex completely lost whatever it was that they had between them and that it was unlikely that Alex, after risking his life and almost dying to save Lena, would be so hostile and abrasive. Additionally, I really didn't like the way that Lena led Julian on when it was clear that she only wanted to be with Alex. I found my mind wandering during a large part of the book which is a BIG sign that I'm not enjoying what I'm reading. I also thought that the ending was a HUGE letdown that didn't do the series any justice. 

Quotes I Liked:

• "You can't love, not fully, unless you are loved in return"
• "How can someone have the power to shatter you to dust - and also to make you feel so whole?"'
• "There are some losses we never get over"
• "He is no longer mine to lose, but the grief is there, a gnawing sense of disbelief"
• "People do terrible things, sometimes for the best reasons"

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

**DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT YET COMPLETED DELIRIUM by LAUREN OLIVER**

So naturally as soon as I finished reading Delirium the first thing I did was go and download Pandemonium, it's sequel. This book by Lauren Oliver continues the story of Lena after her escape into the Wilds. Lena has to learn to leave her past behind her and create a new identity and a new life for herself as an Invalid. 

Although at times I found myself a bit bored (the writing was quite slow) the story overall is riveting and keeps you turning the pages! The book is told in alternating chapter of "then" (when Lena first arrived in the Wilds) and "now" (Lena's present life as a part of the Resistance).

Once again I will mention the beautiful prose that Lauren Oliver uses allowing the book to truly captivate the reader and delve them into this dystopian universe. I have to say that I was never truly surprised by any of the events that unfolded, and I felt as if I was waiting for them to happen throughout the entire book (not trying to give away any spoilers here!) With that said, however, I think that Oliver did a wonderful job of continuing this series.

...and now onto read the final book in the series! 

Quotes I liked:

• "Anger is useful only to a certain point. After that, it becomes rage, and rage will make you careless."
• "There is no before. There is only now and what comes next."
• "That is what hatred is. It will feed you and at the same time turn you to rot."
• "Stupid how the mind will try to distract itself"
• "It's amazing how close I have been, all this time, to my old life. And yet the distance that divides me from it is vast"
• "I didn't realize then what a privilege that was: to be bored with your best friend; to have time to waste"

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium is written by Lauren Oliver, the author of Before I Fall. Delirium tells the story of an alternative reality where love has been made illegal. Love is considered a disease known as "amor deliria nervosa" that can be cured by an operation performed on the brain. The society depicted requires every member to be "cured" as soon as they turn 18. Oliver tells the story of Lena, a member of this dystopian society, who is eagerly awaiting her "procedure," but this all changes when she meets Alex.  

While reading Delirium I was constantly reminded of a book I read when I was in middle school: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. Both tell the stories of parallel universes, dystopian societies that require all members to receive a "cure". Both begin with the protagonist wholeheartedly believing in the values that their society perpetuates and both have their views drastically changed when meeting a love interest. 

Although I found Delirium to be particularly slow in the beginning, I found myself liking the book and as soon as I finished I went to purchase the sequel. Oliver is able to create a realistic alternate reality that causes you to think about the love that exists in your life. The ending was a bit of a let down, but I'm sure that the next book in the series Pandemonium  will fix that!



Some of my favorite quotes:

• "You can't be happy unless you're unhappy sometimes"
• "Love: it will kill you and save you, both"
• "It's so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it's taking forever to come. Then it happens and it's over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed."
• "[Love is] the deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don't"
• "It's amazing how words can do that, just shred your insides apart."
• "Hearts are fragile things. That's why you have to be so careful"
• "And now I know why they invented words for love, why they had to: It's the only thing that can come close to describing what I feel in that moment, the baffling mixture of pain and pleasure and fear and joy, all running sharply through me at once"
• "Take it from me: If you hear the past speaking to you, feel it tugging up your back and running it's fingers up your spine, the best thing to do - the only thing - is run"
• "The past is nothing but a weight. It will build inside of you like a stone"